Amazon, Netflix team up to sue rival streaming service

Amazon, Netflix, and several major Hollywood studios form an anti-piracy partnership known as the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment a.k.a. ACE are all suing Set TV, a streaming service that offers 500 channels for $20 per month. The copyright suit seeks $150,000 per work infringed.

The complaint was filed Friday in US District Court for the Central District of California. The companies are asking for permanent injunctions to prevent further distribution of Set TV software and devices, the impoundment of Set TV devices, and for damages including the defendants' profits.

"For the customers who use Setvnow, the service provides hallmarks of using authorized streaming services — a user-friendly interface and reliable access to popular content — but with a notable exception: the customers only pay money to Defendants, not to Plaintiffs and other content creators upon whose copyrighted works [Set TV's] business depends," claim the members of the alliance that have come together to stop Set TV.

Set TV is offering a lineup of more than 500 channels that starts at $20 per month (for up to three devices per account) via an app for Android TV boxes, Android phones, Amazon Fire TV devices and browsers. Set TV has also set up a way to deliver service using Kodi add-ons.

Set TV's basic package of hundreds of channels includes BBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, CBS, HBO, Nickelodeon, A&E, Bravo, MTV, NBA TV, ESPN, among many others. In addition to selling the basic package on a month to month basis, Set TV is also selling discounted three-month, six-month and 12-month subscriptions.